Mark Hummel’s most recent work is the award-winning dark, comic novel Man, Underground. He is also the author of the novel In the Chameleon’s Shadow and the short story collection Lost and Found. He has been publishing fiction, essays, and poetry in literary magazines and anthologies since 1991. His work has appeared, among many other places, in the pages of The Arlington Literary Journal, The Bloomsbury Review, Dogwood, Fugue, Per Contra, Talking River Review, The Wrath-Bearing Tree, Weber: the Contemporary West, and Zone 3. Writing as Mark Leichliter, he is the author of the crime novel The Other Side.

Writing Is a Lifelong Practice

Mark Hummel Leichliter has spent his life around writing as a writer, editor, teacher, coach, and mentor. He believes writers improve through practice and remain students of their craft throughout their careers. The page can teach you, especially when you approach the work with curiosity and an openness to learning.

Good readers play a major role in that process. Mark relies on trusted readers who care enough to identify problems and help him see possibilities within a manuscript. Their feedback can reveal paths that remain hidden while a writer stays too close to the work.

Follow the Book

Mark writes across genres and deliberately embraces experimentation. He follows the needs of each book rather than forcing every project into the same approach. A new manuscript can demand a different voice, structure, perspective, or narrative strategy.

That philosophy also shapes his view of publishing. Writers can waste valuable energy chasing trends, studying the market, or trying to predict what publishers want. Mark encourages writers to focus on creating the best book they can and to write the book they want to read.

Man, Underground

Mark's 2023 novel, Man, Underground, grew from an idea he began exploring more than a decade earlier. The dark comedy follows a middle-aged man who withdraws from society and builds an underground home. His unconventional life attracts scrutiny and labels him as someone who does not fit accepted expectations.

A seventeen-year-old named Monica changes everything. Her determination to help him creates an unexpected friendship and gives the story a path toward connection, hope, and change.

The novel explores the human tendency to label people as different and push them outside the community. Mark uses comedy to examine serious social questions while allowing the story to move toward empathy and connection.

Mark's approach to writing centers on curiosity, experimentation, trusted readers, and a willingness to follow where the story leads. Man, Underground reflects that philosophy through a story about isolation, unexpected friendship, and the possibility of finding connection across perceived differences.

https://markhummelwriter.com/man-underground/

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